Moshe, Ras – “Transcendence †– [Kordova Milk Bar Records]
Ras Moshe (reeds, flute) and company represent the Brooklyn style of jazz (“lots of sun and peace!†he says) on this fine 2007 studio effort. I like his tenor style a lot; he tends to play with a relatively smooth tone, but that doesn’t stop him from stepping outside when the situation calls for it. Veteran drummer Rashid Bakr has played with many jazz greats, and this group benefits greatly from his first-rate touch and timing. Bassist Shayna Dulberger is new to me, and, young as she is, handles her tasks admirably. She’s hard to hear sometimes, though, and I wish she had been placed a bit higher in the mix. Guitarist Dave Ross (also new to me) provides a wide variety of jazz and not-quite-jazz sounds that are right at home in this outfit; he does some nice chord-work and he also unleashes a few rippling Sharrock-like bursts that really light a fire under the band.
Standout tracks:
#1 is a sweet and swinging tune featuring Moshe’s tenor, with some wild guitar/bass/drums soloing in the middle.
#5 is a flute/percussion piece inspired by Charles Lloyd.
#8 is a blazing tenor sax/drums duet that threatens to tear the damned roof off.
# Reviewed by Max Level on March 31, 2007 at 9:10 pm
# Filed as Jazz, CD
Smith, Wadada Leo / Rudolph, Adam – “Compassion †– [Meta]
The cover may have the appearance of a Windham Hill release and the track titles may sound all new age syrupy (Sun Ray Colors and Rainbow Images), but this disc of free jazz improv duets by Wadada Leo Smith and Adam Rudolph is not for the faint of heart. This is quiet, but heady stuff. Recorded in concert in 2002 (audience edited out), released in 2006, it is at times ethereal, rocking, worldly, whispering, but always transforming and moving on. Smith makes his trumpet and flugelhorn chortle, choke, whisper, belt and sing and Rudolph does everything else, playing handrums and percussion and reeds from all over the world and even taking a stab at Tuvan-style throat singing alternating with scatting.
Following is a list of the track titles and what they should have been:
1. “Beauty: Aquamarine Night†(3:30)- Waiting for Godot
2. “Sun Ray Colors and Rainbow Images†(10:16)- A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Mars
3. “Fragrance of Light†(3:11)- Yosemite Sam Spits in His Cartoon Spitoon
4. “Love Rhythms, Heart Songs†(13:06)- Maynard G. Krebs Goes to College
5. “Song of Humanity†(4:30)- Kung Fu Episode #151: Grasshopper Meets Rooster Cogburn
6. “Silver Dream Circle†(7:13)- Bell, Book and Candle
7. “The Caller and the Called†(4:49)- Floaty McBoaty Groove Juice
–Jawbone
# Reviewed by Jawbone on March 30, 2007 at 10:02 am
# Filed as Jazz, CD
Circle – “â€Tower†Featuring Verde †– [Last Visible Dog Records]
The sun rises over a Finnish fjord and the ice of a calving glacier sparkles, splintering the light into a thousand dazzling rays that mesmerize the mind into a trance-like state. The electric piano and percussion of Circle’s new “Tower†release evoke such mesmerization. Gone are the electric guitars, guttural vocals, space funk and sound effects of past Circle releases. This is layer upon layer of echoey keyboards over jazzy, subdued drums and sparkling percussion. Like Can on a slow day or Cluster and Eno on an upbeat day, or if Terry Riley were to sit in for Joe Zawinul in an early version of Weather Report, the music is hypnotic, jazzy, spacey and all instrumental. Melodies are not important. They float in and out on the layers of this brilliant release. Rarely does an album come up with a sound that is so unique and yet so familiar and keep up the cohesiveness and the interest for its entirety.
Joining Circle on this release is longtime collaborator Verde (Mika Rintala), multi-instrumentalist and electronic instrument inventor, seen waving his hand over his UFOX air humidifier theremin on the back cover.
Track titles are:
1. “Gerde†(6:40)
2. “Gatto†(4:25) tracks into>
3. “Gesterlund†(5:30)
4. “Geppanen†(13:00)
5. “Gaurilla†(5:24) tracks into>
6. “Gehtisalo†(9:08)
This is the New Wave of the “New Wave of Finnish Heavy Metalâ€.
-Jawbone
# Reviewed by Jawbone on March 30, 2007 at 8:27 am
# Filed as A Library, CD
Hay, Emily / Dutz, Brad / Peet, Wayne – “Emily Hay / Brad Dutz / Wayne Peet †– [Pfmentum]
Nice concoctions from these three. KFJC has enjoyed earlier pfMentum
releases under each’s name in the past. Dutz’s “When Manatees Attackâ€
is still slaying away in our recent adds. Wayne Peet’s B3 had plenty of
outer and “Inner Funkdom.†Here Peet is often on piano and in numbers
like “Filthy Washer†he’s laying down contemplative netting for Hay’s
windy flute to gust through. And on “Metamorphafasize†he’s again slow
and subtle, questioning the notes while Hay this time is taking her
flute through enhanced sample and sustain modes. She is just great on
this, kind of like a Kali Fasteau muse…so creative, and an element
of persistent playfulness, she plays her own funny bone at times for
some rhytmic laughing. She even gets some Shelley Hirsch-like bubbling
up vocals on tracks like “A Lotta T’s†and “It Can Be Thick.†The
former has some theremin courtesy of Peet, and the latter features the
B3!! The tracks with Peet on that organ, really sink my battleship in
the best way, something about it pumps up the energy. All tracks really
are gorgeous, no one oversteps anyone, Hay seems to be on point, but
that may be just the fate of the flute and vocals, higher register grabs
more immediate notice. Dutz is probably the secret weapon here, cool
gongs, congas, steel drums! Again the B3 worked best for me, I think it
has a heaviness that contrasts better with the flighty flute. I do dig
some of the effects (electronic and “naturalâ€) that Hay gets out of her
flute. A mighty mighty release. Double kudos to Peet for excellent
engineering on this as well.
-Thurston Hunger
# Reviewed by Thurston Hunger on March 30, 2007 at 12:48 am
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